System Design: Eastern Alchemy
1702728 - Jordan Cordina System Design: Eastern Alchemy (Unfinished) “Wanderers of all creeds have passed by this place, but none so curiously as alchemists. Their eyes, mirrors to the soul, wander like moths to a flame over my wares, betraying a spark of intellect and fascination as they pass through the crowds. I remember their faces, for indeed almost all return.” -Xing Shi, ingredients merchant of Changsha, China = Eastern Alchemy Eastern Alchemy is one of the three specialisations available for the Alchemy skill, alongside Western Alchemy and Sub-Saharan Alchemy. After gaining access to the "Alchemical Basics" ability, players are able to purchase specialisations that they meet the prerequisites for. As with the other specialisations, Eastern Alchemy can only be acquired after having completed an "Eastern Alchemy Basics" quest-line, which is exclusive to certain quest-givers in the Asian continent. Upon unlocking this specialisation, the player gains access to a limited list of recipes, which can be expanded through discovering new recipes in the form of quest rewards and alchemical recipes that can be dropped by killing specific enemies. Elixirs Functionally, possessing the Eastern Alchemy specialisation allows the player to produce "Elixirs" - special brews that last longer than usual potions, with the trade-off that their effects are less potent. However, the player may have a total of three Elixir effects active concurrently, unlike potions which only allow one active effect at once. At higher levels of the alchemy skill, Players with a high fortitude level can gain the benefits of a fourth effect if the "Alchemical Tolerance" skill is purchased from the Standard Alchemy skill list. Creating Elixirs Creating Elixirs differs from that of regular potions in both the ingredients used and how they're prepared as each recipe requires ingredients exclusive to certain areas of the Asian continent, or items acquired from the hunting or capture of magical beasts.'' In addition, the player must use specific equipment to prepare each elixir. Eastern Alchemy is prepared by taking ingredients to a Herb Station (or using a portable herb station after acquiring the "Equipment Specialist" ability) and expending a single ''Binding Syrup item. During preparation the ingredients are powdered, fused and dried to produce the Herbal Pills item, which can be made into an Elixir by boiling them at a Cooking Station. Boiling a Herbal Pill will produce a single portion of its corresponding Elixir, which can only be collected in a Glass Vial item from the player's inventory which is then expended and replaced with a the specific elixir item. Ingredients Herb, Root and Mythical. Binding Syrup is universally used in the creation of each Elixir. Herbs and Root can be mundane, though enchanted variants, usable after acquiring the "Advanced Alchemy" ability, can be used. The Mythical ingredients can be harvested from mythical plants, dropped by Asian mythical creatures upon their death and collected from enchanted resource nodes. Specialisation Abilities * (Rank 1) Eastern Alchemy - Can create Elixirs and access to Elixir Recipes. Gain ability to harvest Mythical ingredients from mythical plants, creatures and other sources. ** Prerequisites: Purchasing of the Alchemical Basics ability and Completion of an instance of the "Eastern Alchemy Basics" quest-line, accessible only in Asia * (Rank 2) Mythical Harvest - The drop-rate of Mythical ingredients and number of items from Herb and Root nodes significantly increases while in Asian territories. Outside of Asia, Mythical creatures, plants and resource nodes gain a significant chance to drop Mythical ingredients. * (Rank 3) Rejuvenate Meridians - The player's health and magic traits rejuvenate faster when under the effect of one or more Elixirs to increasing degrees depending on the player's Alchemy skill progress. If Rejuvenate Meridians is chosen, Qi Transmission becomes unavailable to the player. * (Rank 3) Qi Transmission - Surrounding allies gain a slight percentage of the boosts bestowed by the player's ingested Elixirs to increasing degrees depending on the player's Alchemy skill progress. If Qi Transmission is chosen, Rejuvenate Meridians becomes unavailable to the player. History of Eastern Alchemy "Practitioners of Western Alchemy struggle to understand the fundamentals of its eastern counterpart. Whilst the west adheres to strict formulae and emphasise the physical effects of such imbibements, they fail to address the conflicting essence which lies at centre of man - the imbalances of the vital force, their Qi. Through mindful application, Eastern Elixirs weave in knowledge from ancient medicine into their concoctions and enhance their effects through the replenishment and reinvigoration of stagnant Qi - balancing its presence throughout the body, and as a result bestow longer-lasting effects." -Excerpt from Post-Re-Enchantment Elixirs: A New World Revolution, Author Unknown. Upon the re-enchantment of the world, magical essences returned alongside the many fantastical creatures of myth and legend once thought lost. Countless historical texts around the world once thought false were now revealed to be true, and as such, those knowledgeable studied and documented their contents through the chaos, founding the first rediscovered steps of Alchemy and its regional specialities. Despite the crumbling access to the internet across Asia, the wide dissemination of cultural texts in China and its surrounding territories allowed many to explore Eastern Alchemy's ancient, well-documented applications. As such, the reinvention of modern Eastern Alchemy cannot be attributed to any one person or group, rather the many street-alchemists and other opportunists seeking to profit shortly after the re-enchantment. This resulted in a